


Five Times the Doctor Was Sort of an Idiot During Rose’s Pregnancy and One Time He Wasn’t

by Aeolist



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-05 22:06:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5392043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeolist/pseuds/Aeolist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What it says on the tin!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times the Doctor Was Sort of an Idiot During Rose’s Pregnancy and One Time He Wasn’t

**1\. The time she took a pregnancy test.**  
  
“How long’re we supposed to wait?” the Doctor asked, fidgeting.  
  
She picked up the directions, nearly illegible across a folded, tiny rectangle of paper and squinted. “It says three minutes.”  
  
He sighed, sitting next to her on the rim of the bathtub and staring at the thin strip of plastic sitting on the closed toilet. “That long?”  
  
“That’s not long at all!”   
  
He huffed, folding his arms, and crossed his legs at the ankle.  
  
“C’mon, Doctor. It’s exciting! Like the movies. Sitting and waiting for that little line. The only other time I took one of these it was a bit less...” She trailed off and the corners of her mouth turned down. “This is exciting, right?”  
  
He scooted closer to her, pulling her close to him with an arm around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. “Yes. Of course. It is unbearably exciting and I really cannot stand this waiting-three-minutes business and I wish you’d just--” He nudged her ear with his nose. “Rose, there’s equipment in the TARDIS--”  
  
She turned, pulling away slightly and looking down at his face on her shoulder. “Reckon you’re thinking of the other one. We’ve barely got half an infirmary on the new TARDIS.”  
  
He scratched behind his ear. “I may have … procured … some medical equipment from 24th century Parvulum. It’s far more accurate, for one thing, and that’s not even considering the Gallifreyan elements of the pregnancy, which will have an effect on--”  
  
She rolled her eyes. “Procured? Nicked, you mean.”  
  
“Borrowed?”  
  
She laughed, eyes remaining on the pregnancy test. “I’m sure your ‘borrowed’ equipment is absolutely brilliant, but we’ve only got about a minute and a half left, now.”  
  
“One minute sixteen seconds.” He sighed again, dipping his head down and placing a gentle kiss against her collarbone. He swallowed, raising his head, and let out an, “Oh.”  
  
“What?”  
  
He kissed her again, tongue peeking out against the hollow of her neck and shoulder, and Rose squirmed away, shrieking a giggle.  
  
“Oh, well.”  
  
“Doctor, I promise you can kiss me all you want in a minute and sixteen seconds. Either way. But let’s just see what that thing says, first.”  
  
She nudged him away, but he only moved closer, licking a line from her shoulder to her neck. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, don’t bother. You’re pregnant.”  
  
“Sorry?”  
  
“I can taste the human chorionic gonadotropin. Well, really, it’s more like ‘human-Gallifreyan chorionic gonadotropin.’” He smacked his lips. “Sort of nutty, actually.”  
  
“You’re sort of nutty! Are you serious?”  
  
“Well, yeah.”  
  
She twisted to face him while maintaining her balance on the narrow rim of the tub. “You can taste the pregnancy hormones? You kissed me half an hour ago, why can you--”  
  
“Well, the hcG levels rise so rapidly during the first week after conception. You must’ve just surpassed, oh, 100 milli-International Units per milliliter. That should be about where I can detect-- and it’s likely to be concentrated near the throat. Oh, and--”  
  
“Okay. Yeah. Got it. But.. are you sure?”  
  
He hazarded a grin, shrugging.  
  
Her eyes widened and she shook her head, pulling him into a very tight hug. He let out a relieved chuckle and squeezed her, burying his head in her hair and inhaling deeply.  
  
“Sorry, if you wanted the whole two-lines-mean-yes thing like in the movies,” he said, rubbing a splayed hand warmly up and down her back. “I didn’t realize I’d still be able to…”  
  
She pulled back, grasping his shoulders tightly, eyes shining. “Oh, shut up, it doesn’t matter.” Breaking into a huge grin, she captured his mouth in a deep kiss, nearly tipping them over into the bathtub.  
  
\--  
  
**2\. The time they broke the news.**  
  
It was Christmas Eve. They’d found out in late November, relative time, but were spending most of their days so far in the TARDIS, which was parked in the yard. Surely it wasn’t too unusual to take a bit of time to process. To adjust. To savour the time before Jackie Tyler knew she was due her first grandbaby.    
  
Approaching the entrance to Tyler mansion, Rose glanced down at the wrapped parcel the Doctor held, shooting him a look bordering on panic.   
“And you’re sure the gifts will be … not just a hint. A statement. We’re expecting! It’s not a fun way to break the news if no one gets it.”  
  
“For the last time, Rose, yes.”  
  
“What is it, then - a bib? A pack of dummies? I don’t see why you won’t just tell me what--”  
  
“It’s a surprise. Dunno why you put me in charge if you wanted to know what I got for Jackie and Pete! If you wanted to know, you could’ve--”  
  
“I put you in charge because I’ve already been feeling--”  
  
“Right, yeah. Of course.” He stopped at the door, pulling her into a loose hug with one arm. “I’m sorry. I just thought it might be fun if it were a surprise for you, too. I can tell you, if you like.”  
  
“No. It’s fine.” She rested her forehead against his sternum, letting out a deep breath. “I’m just nervous.”  
  
“Nervous?” He scoffed. “The only thing you should be nervous about is Jackie Tyler screaming her head off and tackling us out of sheer joy.” He paused. “Actually, maybe we should be nervous about that.”  
  
Rose lifted her head, watching him. “I just want to be sure we’re doing this right. The way we tell them.”  
  
He smiled down at her, kissing the top of her head. “Of course we are. After all, it was my idea.”  
  
\--  
  
They waited for Tony to go to bed to give Jackie and Pete the gift, Rose stalling every time the Doctor whispered a reminder in her ear, until it was nearly time to go. Finally, Rose found the Doctor’s eyes and gave him a terse nod and, grin spreading on his face, he pulled the gift out of a pocket, handing it to Jackie and reclaiming his seat next to Rose on the sofa.   “Happy Christmas, Jackie. You too, Pete,” the Doctor said.   “Yeah, Happy Christmas, Mum. Happy Christmas Pete.”  
  
“Oh, you didn’t have to, you two.” Jackie smiled at the couple, eyes crinkling, and pulled the wrapping paper off of the small box. Inside, an unlabeled, brown cardboard box opened easily to reveal the gift inside. She glanced at Pete, who sat next to her, and then at Rose and the Doctor. “What’s this, then?”

  
Inside the box was a plastic, cylindrical object about six or seven inches in length. It had a purple handle with a single button on its column and a bulbous, white head made of a softer looking material. A long cord at its end curled like a mouse’s tail. Next to it was a small package of gel lubricant.  
  
Rose’s eyes widened as she looked at the object, then the Doctor, then her mother. “Oh, god.”  
  
“I know! Great, isn’t it?” The Doctor beamed at her. “And it interfaces with your smartphone. You can share everything on all your social networking websites.”  
  
Jackie picked up the item, turning her head to look at Pete, face expressionless. Pete’s mouth twitched but he said nothing.  
  
Rose scrambled, jumping up from her spot on the sofa, then sitting back down uselessly, watching her mum and her almost-dad and the horrifying object they were all staring at. “Mum, that isn’t - it’s not. It can’t be-- I didn’t--”  
  
“Oh, but it is, Rose! I know, I shouldn’t have. They don’t strictly exist yet. Not for another ten years or so.  Quick trip in the TARDIS, though, and you won’t show anyone, will you? Nah! But you’ve got smart phones, right?” Everyone stared at him, no one answering. “It’s compatible! Got a USB adaptor, you can share all your activity online, and it’ll be--” He looked around slowly. “What?”  
  
“Are you out of your mind? I ought to give you a slap, giving me a gift like this -- Rose, you get that man out of my sight before I--”   
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what--”  
  
“A slap? What did I do?”  
  
“‘What did I do?’ he says. Gives his mother in law, or near enough, anyway, a bloody sex toy for Christmas and has the nerve to say--”  
  
“Sorry, hang on, a sex toy?” The Doctor’s mouth dropped open.  
  
“No, mum, don’t say it, it just makes it so much worse to hear you say it-- Doctor, come on. Let’s just go before she--”  
  
“It’s not a sex toy. What do you take me for-- and to think I’d give it to--” He shuddered, nose scrunching up in distaste. “It’s a portable, at-home, ultrasound machine. Syncs with your smartphone. Can put the pictures up on Facebook instantly.” He swallowed, rubbing his eyes.  
  
“Ultrasound?” Jackie looked up sharply.  
  
“Oh, why wasn’t it bibs,” Rose said, squeezing her eyes shut.  
  
“Bibs?” Jackie echoed, eyes flitting between the pair.  
  
“What good’s a bib going to do anyone, Rose?” the Doctor asked. “None! Not for the next several months, anyway. But we can use this right now! And they can keep it and use it should they decide to have another, or should someone develop a heart abnormality - I mean, really, it’s a brilliant gift, and it doesn’t look a thing like a--”  
  
“You’re pregnant?!” Jackie yelled, standing up so quickly that a pile of wrapping paper and cardboard and jumpers fell onto the floor.  
  
“Um. Surprise?” Rose smiled, giving a little shrug.  
  
Jackie launched herself at the couple, throwing one arm around each of them, and let out a high-pitched scream.  
  
\--  
  
**3\. The time they went shopping.**  
  
Jackie and Rose and the Doctor first went shopping for the baby in January. Jackie dragged them to the department stores, telling them that while she may not have to worry about money anymore, they’d better get a move on shopping all the Christmas clearance items cause she’ll never believe in full-priced retail.  
  
Rose and Jackie wandered slowly down each aisle of the children’s department of Marks  & Spencer, pausing to consider the newborn clothing and the items for larger infants, as well, and swapping stories of Rose’s early childhood. The Doctor, meanwhile, jumped around the section, sorting through clothing racks, popping up around corners, and disappearing again abruptly.  
  
“You’ll have your hands full with two of them,” Jackie said.  
  
Toying with a pale green, long-sleeved onesie, Rose asked, “Doctors?”  
  
“Children. The baby and the Doctor. Would you look at him? Can hardly keep still.”  
  
Rose craned her neck, watching for the Doctor’s spiky hair as it disappeared and reappeared two aisles over.  
  
“Don’t you reckon he’ll be good with the baby?”  
  
Jackie rolled her eyes, holding a daisy-yellow bib up and inspecting it. “I’m sure he’s wonderful with babies. And kids. How can he not be? He’s practically a kid, himself, the barmpot. You’ll probably come home and have no idea who’s made which mess.”  
  
Rose shrugged, shooting her mother a grin. “Who says it was either of them? Could be it was me, yeah?”  
  
“Oh, but you two are hopeless.”  
  
“Ah, but we have our lovely mum to come and help us out.” Rose nudged her lovely mum and dropped the onesie into their basket.    
  
“If you’re lucky,” Jackie said, eyeing the label on a package of baby socks before dropping them in as well.  
  
Rose turned, grinning, and threw her arms around her mother, who patted her warmly on the arm. “I’m definitely lucky.”  
  
The Doctor popped up in front of them, slightly flushed, eyes darting between the two women. He was holding a Harry Potter t-shirt that looked like it would fit a one year old. “We should get this.”  
  
“Doctor, we’re not dressing the baby in oversized Harry Potter t-shirts,” Rose said, releasing her mother. “We need onesies. Like this.” She held up the pale green number with a small smile.  
  
“Actually,” the Doctor said, tossing the shirt into the basket with an air of manic glee, “Gallifreyan babies are born much larger than human. We’ll need shirts that size fairly soon.”  
  
“What?” Rose looked down into the basket at the t-shirt practically swallowing the tiny green onesie.  
  
“Oh, yes. The baby’ll probably weigh a stone when he or she is born.” He cocked his head. “I think ‘she.’”  
  
“You can’t be serious.” Jackie said, voice eclipsing the canned department store music.  
  
He grinned, raising and lowering his eyebrows, and dropped his eyes down to Rose’s abdomen. “Ooh, you're going to get huge! Even for a pregnant woman.” He turned, heading back towards the 6-12 months section, but cast a parting glance at the women before turning the corner. “Rose.”  
  
“Yeah?” Her eyes were still focused on the shirt.  
  
“What do you think - Gryffindor or Ravenclaw? One of each? Hm. Maybe all four? I don’t want to limit the baby, but I really doubt any child of ours would be in Hufflepuff or Slytherin. Seems two shirts would do it, hmm?”  
  
Jackie looked at Rose, then the Doctor.  
  
Rose swallowed. “Um. Yeah. That’s good.”  
  
He smiled broadly and disappeared around the corner.  
  
“A stone.”  
  
“He was kidding.”  
  
“He was not! A stone, Rose!”  
  
Rose sighed and pulled the pale, green onesie out of the basket, hanging it back up on the rack.  
  
\--  
  
**4\. The time he collected some playthings.**  
  
They planned to keep living on their new TARDIS after the baby was born, although she would be parked in their suite in the Tyler mansion, at least for a while. Currently, Rose spent her time equally between the TARDIS and her mum’s house, often settling on the bed in the Tyler mansion when she was too tired to venture any farther. The TARDIS, disguised as a dark, mahogany wardrobe, nearly always sat in the corner of the room, except when the Doctor took her for a trip or two to ‘keep her warm.’  
  
Though the new model was nowhere near the essentially infinite size of the original, the new TARDIS had a respectable console room, two bedrooms, a bathroom, a galley, and a half-grown infirmary. The Doctor had made their second bedroom his project, turning it slowly into a nursery, and asking Rose to wait until it was finished to take a look.  
  
One afternoon, Rose was lying on their bed in the Tyler house, trying to get a bit of kip before tea. Even though she was only twenty three weeks along, she was already uncomfortable, relegated to trousers with elastic waistlines and frequent bouts of rest between more frequent trips to the loo. Steadily, the thought of the one-stone-baby was becoming less horrifying in the abstract and more immediately terrifying.  
  
The Doctor crept into the room, the squeaking of the hinges on the door giving him away, and Rose’s eyes popped open.  
  
“Hello,” he said, an arm behind his back, giving her a warm smile. “Feeling all right?”  
  
“Everything hurts.”  
  
His brow furrowed and he took a step closer. “Everything hurts, as in, you’re uncomfortable? Or everything hurts, as in, something’s wrong?”  
  
“The first one.”  
  
He nodded, expression nonetheless troubled, one arm still held awkwardly behind his back. “Let me just - one second, back in a tick - and I’ll give you a nice, long foot rub. How about that?”  
  
“What’ve you got?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“In your hand. What’ve you got in your hand?”  
  
“Oh, this? Nothing. Nothing at all. It’s, um, it’s for the nursery.”  
  
Rose pushed herself into a sitting position with both hands. “Can I see?”  
  
He avoided her eyes and took a step back, then cleared his throat. “Ehm. In, in good time. I’ll just - really, I’ll be half a mo’, I’ll just put this away and--”  
  
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay, now you’re being weird. Show me.”  
  
“Rose,” the Doctor took another step back, “The nursery’s my project, and you said you’d wait to look until it was finished, and--”  
  
“Yeah, right, only, that’s not the nursery, is it? And you’re acting all… suspicious. And--” She sat up the rest of the way up, eyes sharp. “You’ve nicked something from Torchwood, haven’t you?”  
  
“I can’t believe you’d say such a thing. Nicked something! I have all of time and space and my disposal, why would I nick--”  
  
“Doctor.”  
  
He let out a deeply put upon sigh and approached the bed, sitting down on its edge. “All right, fine.”  
  
The Doctor placed a small item that looked like a ray gun between them on the mattress. It was labeled with a bright red sticker marked “HAZARD.”  
  
“That’s for the nursery?” Rose asked, voice low.  
  
“It’s not actually hazardous. It’s not my fault Torchwood doesn’t know the difference between an Opansi death ray and a Prekrasen magnetic resonance enhancer. The baby will love it. I’ve got her a set of magnets, and she can point the--”  
  
“Gun?”  
  
“Rose, it’s not a gun. You know better than anyone how I feel about-- It’s concentrates magnetic energy. She can play with the magnet set, reverse the polarity--”  
  
“I think you need to show me the nursery.”  
  
His face dropped, eyes trailing down to the magnetic resonance enhancer and back up to her face. “Rose, please. You know I’d never give her anything dangerous.”  
  
She leaned forward with some effort, scooting next to him and taking his hand. “I know. Of course I know that. But if the nursery’s filled with Torchwood stuff, that’s something I need to see. Your gauge for ‘hazard’ is a bit off.”  
  
“Any child of ours is going to be brilliant. She’ll have no problem at all using technology safely.” He grinned. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she were playing with these after only a few months. Of course, that all depends on her hand-eye coordination. And her size.” He patted her stomach with one hand. “She’s growing so quickly though, look at you! Like a planet.”  
  
“Doctor.” She rubbed his thumb with hers, ignoring his comment on her size with some effort. “I love your enthusiasm, putting that nursery together. And I know her safety is everything to you. But some of this stuff might be better to give her when she’s older, yeah? So I’m setting a new rule.”  
  
“What’s that?”  
  
“If it’s marked ‘hazard,’ it doesn’t belong in the nursery.”  
  
He pouted. “It’s not my fault Torchwood’s filing system is utterly incompetent. I know better than Jeremy in archives about which artefacts are safe and which are hazards.”  
  
“You’re lucky I don’t tell Jeremy in archives you’ve been nicking his stuff.”  
  
“You wouldn’t!” He leaned away, far enough to stare at her, aghast.  
  
“Either you take out everything marked ‘hazard,’ or I go into that nursery and do it myself.” He looked away, and Rose continued, “And you give it all back to Jeremy. He’s a nice bloke and I don’t want him getting in trouble cause you’re stealing half the Torchwood archive.”  
  
He looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep breath. “Yeah, all right.”  
  
An hour later, the Doctor exited the TARDIS, a huge cardboard box in his hands, filled to the brim with objects covered in red stickers. Rose rolled her eyes, turning over and trying again for a bit of kip.  
  
\--  
  
**5\. The time he helped plan the birth.**  
  
In early July, Rose was thirty two weeks pregnant and almost constantly uncomfortable. While the baby wasn’t anywhere near a stone, she was over ten pounds, and still growing rapidly. Rose spent more of her time in the Tyler residence than the TARDIS, now, and between the Doctor and Jackie, she was under near constant supervision.  
  
The Doctor strolled into the Tyler living room, brushing his hands off, a pleased expression on his face. He looked expectantly at Jackie and Rose, who were each reclining on separate sofas and watching telly, until, finally, Jackie raised her head, evaluating him with a roll of her eyes.  
  
“What’re you so happy about, then?”  
  
“I’ve just booked our delivery room!” He grinned broadly, catching Rose’s eye.  
  
“Booked it where?” Rose asked. “And ... when? You said we’d have to wait and see about arranging the c-section, so we could monitor how fast she’s growing in the last few weeks.”  
  
He pulled a face, placing a hand on the back of his neck. “Rose, we have a time machine,” he said, as though she were very stupid. “We’ll show up at our reservation regardless of when the baby’s ready.” He sighed and shook his head. “Sometimes it’s like you haven’t been traveling through all of time and space for the last ten years.”  
  
Rose started to sit up and the Doctor dropped his pretense of annoyance as he rushed forward to assist, providing her support with his arm and shoulder as she pulled herself upright. Jackie watched, nonplussed, tossing a kernel of popcorn into her mouth and increasing the volume on the television from eighteen to twenty.  
  
“Right, okay. First, this is for talking to me like I’m thick,” Rose said, giving the Doctor a pinch on the arm that caused him to yelp. He rubbed the sore spot and sat down next to her on the sofa. “Second, it sounds to me like you think we’re taking a trip in the TARDIS for my delivery.”  
  
“Well. Yes. Why would we have little Eirenicon in the twenty-first century when we can give her all the benefits of thirty-third century London technology - the pinnacle of quick and easy, scarless, painless caesarian sections. Only the best for my girls.” He winked at Jackie.  
  
“Little who?” Jackie asked, sitting up straighter and eating another bite of popcorn.  
  
“We haven’t agreed on that name,” Rose said, looking at her mother.  
  
“Could be Erin for short, though that full name has quite the ring to it. Eir-en-i-con!” He drew the syllables out. “Means ‘proposition for peace.’”  
  
“It’s a bit weird,” Jackie said.  
  
“We’re not going to the thirty-third century, Doctor.” Rose turned to face him on the sofa.  
  
“It’s not weird - and, at any rate, her name shouldn’t be ordinary! She’s not ordinar--” He paused, shifting to look at Rose. “Not going? Why not?”  
  
“Because! I want to be at home.”  
  
“The TARDIS will be right nearby. We’ll take Jackie and Pete-- Tony, too, if he wants--”  
  
“Tony’s not gettin’ in that machine of yours. You can forget about that right now,” Jackie said, turning off the telly.  
  
“Okay, well, we can find a sitter for Tony... Or! Be back in seconds, for him! No sitter needed. Poof! Gone and back and here’s your baby niece. And Rose - you’ll love this hospital. Like New New York, only without the evil cat nuns--”  
  
“Evil cat nuns?” Jackie laughed. “Honestly, the things you say… I won’t be gettin’ in that machine of yours either, you great plonker.”    
  
“Jackie,” the Doctor said, grabbing at his hair with one hand and letting out a long exhale before continuing, “the TARDIS is perfectly safe.”  
  
“Yeah, well,” Rose said, folding her arms over her belly, “you might’ve consulted me.”  
  
Jackie nodded, shoveling another bite of popcorn into her mouth.  
  
“I thought--”  
  
“What, that you should decide where I have our baby?”  
  
“No!”  
  
“That my opinion wasn’t important?”   
  
“Of course not! No. I just thought the best option was … We have all of time and space at our fingertips, Rose. We should deliver the baby where it’s safest.”  
  
Jackie huffed. The Doctor looked at her. “What?”  
  
“You ought to be having that baby where and how Rose wants. Now look at what you’ve done!”  
  
Next to him, Rose sniffed, and his eyes widened as he saw that hers were shining. “Oh, Rose. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean your opinion wasn’t--” He wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her arm, squeezing her into his side. She sniffed again, staring straight ahead. “Tell me how you want to do it.”  
  
“I thought… at home. I mean, Pete’s said we can use the Torchwood equipment. And the TARDIS’s infirmary’s grown, now, if we need it. And with you there, and Dr. Harper, I just thought it’d be…”  She swallowed against the lump in her throat. “And we’d be with family. And stay away from the hospital, you know? Thought they might not know how to deal with a human-Gallifreyan baby, but… If it’s safer in the thirty-third century, then…” She met his eyes, hand resting on her stomach. “I don’t want to put her in danger.”  
  
“What danger?” Jackie asked, rolling her eyes. “It’s a c-section, not brain surgery. They’re perfectly safe, Rose, even if you didn’t have two of the world’s best doctors fawning over you. For God’s sake, he’s just being a prat.”  
  
“I didn’t mean to,” the Doctor said, watching Rose carefully. “Hey.” He lifted her chin and she met his eyes, hers still shimmering. “I didn’t realize. Of course we can have her at home.”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
He nodded, swooping in and planting a kiss on her lips. She smiled against his mouth, bringing a hand up to card through his hair.   
  
A kernel of popcorn hit the Doctor in the cheek as pulled away and Jackie smirked at him from across the room. “All right. Now you’re done upsetting my daughter, would you please hush? I can still catch the end of Coronation Street.”  
  
\--  
  
**6\. The time he apologized.**  
  
A few hours later, Rose was still watching telly with Jackie, legs propped up on the couch, resting her back against a few cushions. The Doctor found them there, first ducking his head into the room and then approaching Rose tentatively.  
  
Jackie looked up, a smirk on her face, but her eyes were sparkling. “Back again?”  
  
The Doctor smiled, quiet, and sat down on the edge of the couch, his hip just barely brushing against Rose’s side.  
  
“Ready for bed?” he asked.  
  
Rose glanced up at him, letting out a yawn, and gave a little nod. Eyes warm, he lifted his arm in offering, helping her first into a sitting position, then off the couch.  
  
“Night, mum,” Rose said, sidling out of the room.   
“Night, dear. Night, Doctor.”  
  
They made their way into their suite and then into the TARDIS, which was now an extra-large, walk-in wardrobe, clearly designed to be easy for Rose to get in and out of. He helped her along anyway, a hand on her lower back as she walked into the console room, eyes on her face in the dim light.  
  
“God, I’m knackered,” Rose said, leaning heavily on his shoulder.  
  
“Ah.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“I had… Um. Something to show you. Before, um. Bed. But…  No matter! Can just as easily show you in the morning.”  
  
“What were you going to…” Her eyes widened, brightening. “Wait. Was it the nursery?”  
  
He turned, eyes on her face, and shrugged, arm curling loosely around her waist.  
  
“It is, isn’t it?”  
  
“If you’re too tired…”  
  
She broke into a wide grin, grabbing his hand. “Shut up and let’s go!”  
  
They walked along the short corridor until he stopped in front of the nursery door, blocking her entrance.  
  
“If there’s anything you don’t like,” he said, eyes wide, face eager and intense, “don’t be afraid to tell me.”  
  
“I’m sure I’ll love it.”  
  
“I promise there aren’t any ‘hazards.’”  
  
“No stolen property?”  
  
“Well.”  
  
“All right, nevermind I asked. Just open the door already.”  
  
He did, waving her along before entering, himself. Rose walked in slowly, letting out a large gasp as soon as she was inside.  
  
“Oh, it’s…” Her voice was hushed, her eyes sweeping across the room.  
  
The room furnished simply: a modest, wooden cot pressed up against one wall; a large, padded rocking chair next to it. The changing table was on the opposite wall and next to it was a shelf covered in towels, bibs, and baby clothes, ready for their daughter.  
  
But the pièce de résistance was the wall behind the cot. A mural was painted across it in intricate detail: a landscape in the background, with a large tree as its centrepiece. The tree was painted in one half brown and green, the other dark orange and silver, its dividing line so subtle down the middle of the trunk that it was hard to tell where the two themes diverged. The orange side of the tree glittered with silver leaves, so detailed that Rose could make out every vein. The silver and orange transitioned into a field of deep red grass, sprinkled in flecks of snow. A small mountain was painted in the background, topped with an even smaller house, and behind it all, two suns shone down, casting light and shadow across the scenery. The brown and green side of the tree was surrounded by lush patches of bright green grass, rolling hills shimmering vividly in the light, and a yellow sun in a pale blue sky that was dotted with clouds. A tiny skyline of London lingered in the far background and a tinier classic-style-TARDIS hung, deep blue, suspended in the air.  
  
Rose’s eyes scanned the mural slowly and soon they were shining with tears.  
  
The Doctor brushed a thumb along her cheek, wiping the moisture away. “Twice in one day. Can’t say I’m happy to set that particular record.”  
  
She shifted, facing him, and threw her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder even though the movement was more fitting for burying her face in his neck - if her stomach weren’t in the way.  
  
“Doctor,” she said, voice thick with tears.  
  
“So you like it?” he asked, a little choked up too.  
  
“God, I love it. I love you.” She pulled back and kissed him, fingers running along his collar.  
  
After a moment she broke away, cheeks wet again. His face was wet, too, and his smile was so sappy that she burst into giggles.  
  
“Rose Tyler--” he said, voice muffled by the top of her head, “Mmmf. I love you too.”  
  
She looked around the room. “God, but it’s gorgeous. Where would you even have put all that Torchwood stuff?”  
  
He had the decency to look sheepish. “Well, that shelf, it wasn’t going to be for the clothes…”  
  
She nodded, biting her lip. “Right. Next to the changing table. ‘Course.”  
  
“Lucky someone had the good sense to talk me out of it,” he said, and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “C’mon. There’s more.”  
  
She glanced up in surprise and he led her to a door that she hadn’t noticed before. Instead of the closet she expected, the doorway led into their own bedroom, although she knew that door that hadn’t existed earlier that day in their room.  
  
“S’like magic,” she said, tracing her fingers along it.  
  
“Mm,” he agreed, distracted. He tilted his head. “God, you’re beautiful.”  
  
“Full of it, you are.”  
  
He shook his head, eyes trained on her as she approached their bed with slow steps. He followed her. “Absolutely not. You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”  
  
She sat on the bed, shooting him a sidelong glance, smile on her face. “You’re just bein’ nice cause of earlier.”  
  
He sat next to her and pulled her hands onto his lap, rubbing them with his thumbs. “I am so sorry for upsetting you earlier. But that has nothing to do with the fact that you are absolutely,” he raised her hand, “utterly,” he kissed her knuckle, “bloody,” he met her eyes, “gorgeous. And I’m the luckiest man alive, Human-Time-Lord-Metacrisis or otherwise.”  
  
Her mouth went dry even as her eyes teared up again. “Thank you.”  
  
“Massage before bed?” he asked.  
  
She nodded. “God yes.”  
  
“Happy ending?”  
  
She bit her lip, struggling futilely against a smile, and nodded again.  
  
\-- The End --


End file.
